Jesus, the Connecting Force

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

NKJV

This past Friday, most certainly the biggest movie of the year and perhaps the largest grossing movie of all time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened in theaters.  For those unfamiliar with the Star Wars movies, the main theme of the films is the force.  The force has both a good side and an evil or dark side. 

John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh.  This verse is in reference to Jesus, the Son of God’s birth on the first Christmas.  This fact is what separates Christianity from most other religions for God did not just choose to sit up in heaven and look down on fallen humanity but instead chose to become one of them and die for their sins in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.  Jesus is the connecting force between a righteous God and fallen humanity and by His death, burial, and resurrection, has become the connecting force between man and God. 

Jesus is the good side of the force providing a path to salvation and eternity with God (John 3:16).  However, just as in the Star Wars movies, each individual has to make a choice whether to follow the good side of the force and accept Jesus as their savior, or continue down the dark side, which started in the Garden of Eden with the fall of Adam and Eve. 

Not wanting anyone reading this to continue down the dark path, I want to take a few moments to explain how you can change direction and turn to the good side of the force, Jesus Christ by

1)      Acknowledging you have sinned or missed the mark with God (Romans 3:23) – Without first acknowledging we have a problem, we will do nothing to solve that problem.  Those reading this with, might I say, colorful pasts, find the fact that there is sin in their lives easy to admit.  However, for those who have led good lives or have come from a Christian upbringing, it is easy to believe that our good works and good parents are a ticket into heaven.  However, Ephesians 2:8-9 and Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that our good works and righteousness are insufficient for salvation.  Only the death of the only sinless man, Jesus Christ, can save us from our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2)      The consequence of sin is death or eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23) – This death is more than just physical death but also spiritual death or separation from God.  (1)

3)      The good news however is that Jesus died for our sins (Romans 5:8), providing a path to eternal life (John 3:16) – The love of God for fallen humanity is so great that even sin could not prevent Jesus Christ from dying a brutal death by crucifixion for us on the cross.  This would be like a judge condemning us to death but due to the judge’s love for us, offering up his only son to take the death penalty for us.  When we look at it that way, it would be idiotic for anyone to refuse the substitution of God’s Son for our sins.

4)      Changing from the dark side to the good side simply involves our believing Jesus came to die, be buried, and rise from the dead for our sins and confessing Him as Lord of our lives (Romans 10:9-10) – To escape the death penalty, all one has to do is accept the offer of substitution from the judge for our sins.  Once again, why would anyone not accept this offer?

If you want to stop sliding down the dark side and change direction to the good side, take a moment to pray with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

There is therefore no logical reason for anyone of us to slide down the dark side any longer for Jesus, the light of the world has come to be with us, offering us a connection with God that was lost in the Garden of Eden.  The question we must ask is will we complete the connection by accepting God’s loving free gift of salvation through Jesus. 

1. Strongs Concordance. 2288 thantos. biblehub.com. [Online] Bible Hub. [Cited: December 19, 2015.] biblehub.com/greek/2288.htm.